Excalibur
by Dragon Mistress Syal
Summary: Everyone thought that Wyatt was the next King Arthur, but what if they were wrong? The Sword and the City AU
1. Chapter 1

**So, after like forever on fanfiction, I am finally posting a story. So _please, please_, review. Constructive criticism is very welcome, but please no flames.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed, and I won't for the rest of the story either.**

Chris Halliwell woke up panting. He couldn't remember the dreams except in vague flashes.

But he knew they had been about Excalibur; the sword had been haunting his dreams for weeks.

Chris sat up and rubbed his eyes before going to the small bathroom in the back of P3 and splashing water over his face. Chris caught his breath and tried to wipe thoughts of the sword out of his mind, but it lingered there anyway.

That night was different. The dreams had been stronger than any of the previous nights, and so was the pull that he felt anytime he was around the sword. Chris shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking about Excalibur, as it was in the future with Wyatt.

He remembered when his brother had pulled the sword out of the stone.

_Wyatt orbed in to find Chris sitting there by the body, trying to stop the flow of blood with his hands while tears streamed down his face. Wyatt then instantly tried to heal her, but he couldn't. When he failed he called for Leo, who came instantly for his eldest son's cries. But it was too late; Piper Halliwell was dead._

_It was raining on the cold November day of the funeral, which Chris was thankful for, as it did some to hide his tears. Leo was crying too but avoiding his sons' eyes; Wyatt was now also cold to him, and Chris now downright ignored his father. Wyatt was staring stoically at the casket as it lowered into the damp ground. _

_The next day found Chris sitting on the couch with a blank look on his face while Wyatt paced ceaselessly. _

"_I got it!" Wyatt had exclaimed before running up the stairs. Chris, surprised out of his stupor, walked slowly after his brother to the attic. He found his brother facing away from him in what Chris knew was his thinking pose._

_Chris would never forget the moment he first laid eyes on Excalibur. As Wyatt had moved away from the sword, Chris had caught a glance and he downright gasped. _It's beautiful,_ was his first thought. He started to walk towards it._

"_Nuh-uh, little brother," Wyatt said, holding Chris back with his hand. "Nice try, but we both know it's mine." _

_The fourteen year old wasn't listening, though; he was listening to the soft hum of power and downright _goodness _that was radiating off of the sword. _

_Wyatt stepped towards Excalibur. "Well, here goes nothing." And he pulled the sword out of the stone._

Chris shook his head again, trying to disperse the memory. That was a long time ago, he told himself. Chris lay down on his bed and tried to fall back asleep, but his racing mind and a buzzing in the back of his mind wouldn't let him.

**There's the first chapter of my first story! I plan on updating a few times a week, but no promises. **

**There's this lovely review box there at the bottom of your screen (hint hint)**


	2. Chapter 2

**I want to greatly thank everyone who reveiwed, favorited or followed this story!**

Chris threw the demon into the wall. "Who's after the charmed one's son?" he growled.

The demon, a low level scavenger demon that hid in the shadows of more powerful demons and ate their victims, exclaimed, "I swear, I don't know!"

Chris threw it into another wall. "You've been following around some of the most powerful demons, and yet you know nothing?"

"How would I know?" the demon asked.

"Don't lie to me!" Chris yelled. "I know that you listen in on conversations and sell information!"

Chris couldn't deal with this right then. He had a lot more demons to question, not to mention the buzzing in the back of his mind. The buzzing had started a few weeks ago, but it had been slight and ignorable until a few hours earlier when it had suddenly hit a crescendo which caused Chris to fall on his knees clinging to his head. The buzzing was a promise of power and control, and it was calling for Chris.

Chris had since then been fighting demons left and right, trying to make the constant loud buzzing stop or at least manage to ignore it somehow so that he could actually think clearly.

"Chris!"

Chris grunted. "Not now," he mumbled under his breath. He turned back to the demon. "So, are you going to tell me something or will I have to vanquish your sorry—"

"Chris!"

He sighed and flicked his wrist, vanquishing the demon before he orbed out for his charges' calls.

Chris orbed into the sunroom of the Halliwell manor to find it filled with magical creatures of good standing what appeared to be a line. "What's going on?" he asked Paige.

The youngest charmed one gestured towards the center of the room. "That."

Chris froze when he saw it sitting there, just as he remembered it before it had become tainted by Wyatt.

Excalibur: the sword that he had seen cut down his Aunt Phoebe along with most of his cousins, though it was never used against Chris himself—not that that kept Wyatt from making him watch as he slain everyone Chris had ever loved. It was the sword that had slain many innocents and demons alike at his brother's hand. It was the symbol of Wyatt's sick twisted "Camelot." And it was sitting in front of him, beckoning to his very soul.

The buzzing in his head was now a light blissful singing, and everything around him faded away. He wasn't aware of everyone staring at him or of Paige asking him what was wrong; all Chris was aware of was himself and Excalibur. Every fiber of his being was telling him that he needed the sword. So his feet walked forward as if of their own accord.

There was a small rational part in the back of his mind that told him that he was crazy and that this was Wyatt's sword. Wyatt's _evil_ sword.

However, he still advanced towards the stone.

As his fingers wrapped around the hilt, all of his doubt and all of his fears and all of his hesitation vanished as they were replaced with certainty and power and a sense of wholeness. It was as if he had lived all of his life in the dark and only halfway alive until he had been united with Excalibur.

Chris lift the sword above his head as the magical community bowed to their new king.

Then the rush started to fade and Chris realized what he had just done.

"No, no, no, no," he mumbled in shock and denial. "This isn't right. This can't be."

All of the creatures of good were left bowing as a column of blue orbs ascended to the ceiling and Excalibur clanged to the ground.

**Remember the three R's: Review, Review, and Review.**

**Also: Constructive critsism is welcome. I want to get better (and that also would mean you get to read better stuff in the future)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks again to anyone who is reading this, expecially if you reviewed, followed, or faved**

**Here's the Charmed Ones' reactions. Enjoy.**

To say that the room filled with awkward silence would be to say the least.

"Did Chris just…" Piper asked.

"I, I think so," Paige replied.

All of the creatures from the magical community slowly started filing out.

The three sisters stood in silence, lost in their own thoughts, as the creatures filed out.

"I don't think we should leave it lying on the ground," Paige said, gesturing towards Excalibur.

Before her sisters could reply, a shimmer appeared in the air by where the sword laid. "I bet you didn't expect this when you got out of bed this morning," said the figure that appeared. "Wait, where is the heir?" he asked in confusion.

"Who are you?" Piper asked, holding her hands up ready to blast him if needed.

The figure reached down for the sword.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Piper threated. "I swear that I will blow you to pieces if you do not answer my question right now."

"I apologize. My name is Mordaunt, and I am here to train the heir to Excalibur. May I ask where he is?"

"We don't know, and we wouldn't tell you anyway," said Paige. "You could start proving to us that you don't need to be vanquished by backing away from the sword."

Mordaunt put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Okay, I will accept your wishes. But I assure you that I am not a demon. I would also suggest not leaving the sword on the ground like that."

Piper stood up and started for the sword.

"I wouldn't advise—"

Piper picked up Excalibur with no problem. She looked pointedly at Mordaunt as if to say _see? _She then headed to the living room with her sisters and Mordaunt following her. She set the sword gingerly on the coffee table before yelling to the sky. "LEO!"

Her husband appeared after only one call. "Yes?"

Paige motioned towards the table.

"Where'd the sword come from?"

"Chris pulled it out of a stone," Paige said matter-of-factly.

"What?!"

"Apparently Chris is the new King Arthur," Phoebe said.

"But how?" Leo asked.

Phoebe shrugged. "We were all surprised, but he pulled Excalibur out of the stone."

Leo shook his head. "I don't believe it. Well if he's the heir to Excalibur, then where is he?"

"That's a good question," said Piper.

"After he pulled the sword out, Chris just kinda orbed out without it," Paige explained to Leo. "He looked really, I don't know, freaked out and he mumbled something like 'no, this can't be.' Why would he do that?"

Piper considered the question. Now that her youngest sister mentioned it, it did seem odd that Chris would just abbandon _the _Excalibur. She could of sworn he had smiled before had had paniced and orbed out. "Because he's Chris," Piper guessed.

Paige shrugged in agreement.

"I offer my services to find the King," Mordaunt suggested.

"Shut up, Merlin," said Piper.

"My name isn't Merlin. He's actually a myth—"

"And we don't care what your name is," Piper interrupted. "Leo will find Chris while we keep an eye on you."

A glare from Piper stopped Leo's protests, so he just orbed to find Chris.

**Review (and chocolate) make the world go 'round**


	4. Chapter 4

**I apologize for the length of the chapters, I really do. As I get more the hang of this, I will try to start making longer chapters.**

Chris sat numbly on top of the Golden Gate Bridge, watching the cars travel far beneath him, completely unaware of him. He smiled at their naivety. They have no clue about all of the battles that happen right under their noses all of the time.

Chris's mind was racing. No matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise, he couldn't deny that he had pulled the sword out of the stone.

Every time that he had seen Wyatt use the sword, he had felt a fundamental _wrongness _inside_. _He couldn't explain it, it was just a pure gut feeling that he had assumed was because Wyatt was using the sword for evil.

Not to mention the feeling Chris had gotten when he had united with Excalibur. Chris couldn't forget the surge of power. But it wasn't only that: he had felt complete and _right. _Almost as if it was meant to be.

And he could still feel the sword calling for him.

Wyatt had described pulling Excalibur simply as a rush of power, and so had Piper when telling her sons the story of how she had claimed Excalibur. Piper had pulled the sword out as the lady of the lake, so maybe…

Chris shot that thought down; Wyatt was the true heir to the sword. He was the most powerful witch. He was the twice-blessed. He was the golden son. Wyatt had pulled the sword from the stone and used it to its full potential—he had ruled the world with it. Maybe this was the universe saying Chris was destined to be a ruthless tyrant in this time-if his brother, a supposed savior, could consort with demons and order the deaths of millions of witches and whitelighters and mortals alike, then what was to say he couldn't too.

A group of blue orbs descended to reveal Leo.

"Go away," Chris said.

"The sisters told me a very interesting story," said Leo.

"It's not true. It's a mistake."

"The sisters and I need you to come back to the manor so we can figure this out."

"I'm fine here," Chris said.

"I'm serious, Chris. What you did is a very—"

"Big mistake," Chris interrupted.

Leo sighed. "Just come back so that we can decide what's a mistake and what's not. If it doesn't work out, we can just put the sword back in the stone."

"Why don't we just destroy it?" mumbled Chris under his breath. _It would save us a lot of trouble in the future,_ he thought to himself.

Chris stood up. "Fine. We'll go back to the manor so that we can get this over with." The part of him that wanted to avoid the sword was starting to be overridden by the part that wanted to be reunited with it—not that he'd admit it to himself.

Chris and Leo both orbed away.

**_Thank you, thank you, thank you, _****readers for all of the support. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Have I told you guys how much I love your support? Well I have now.**

**Drumroll please****_[insert dromroll]_****...I now present to you, my longest chapter yet. ****_[insert cheers and applause]_**

"I still wish he was Merlin. That would be cool," Paige said for the twentieth time.

"I am not him, so would you please shut up?" Mordaunt replied for the twentieth time.

Piper sighed. "I'm going to put Wyatt back up for a nap," she said, standing up.

Paige just nodded as her sister climbed the stairs.

"So tell me more about this 'Chris'," Mordaunt said.

"How about," said Paige, "you tell me about yourself, Mr. Not Merlin."

"There's really not much to tell," he started.

Leo and Chris then orbed into the room.

"Where are your sisters?" Leo asked.

"Phoebe had to go to work, and Piper's upstairs putting Wyatt down," Paige answered.

Mordaunt walked over and looked Leo and Chris over. "Which one of you is 'Chris'?"

"Who's asking?" Chris asked with hostility.

"Mordaunt, trainer of…" he was cut off as Chris telekinetically threw him into the wall.

"What was that for?!" Paige exclaimed.

"He wants to hurt Wyatt."

"How do you know?" Paige asked.

"Future consequences, just trust me on this one," he said, not taking his eyes off of Mordaunt.

"What's going on here?" asked Piper who was coming down the stairs.

"I am being accused of wanting to harm your son—which I assure you is completely untrue. I only live to serve the heir, and I would never hurt a being of good, let alone a child," said Mordaunt, who was still being held up against the wall by Chris. He held his hands up as if in surrender.

Chris yelled, "Shut up, you power hungry son of a—"

"I will not stand for false accusations!" Mordaunt yelled.

Chris narrowed his eyes. "Don't lie to me! Don't think that I don't know that you just want Wyatt out of the way."

"Can you believe this?" Mordaunt asked Paige incredulously.

Piper answered Mordaunt by blowing him up. "There. That problem's solved."

"Well, I guess he really isn't Merlin," Paige noted.

Piper rolled her eyes. "Leo, you should you talk to the elders about this." As her husband was orbing, she turned to Chris and motioned towards the couch. "We need to talk."

Chris groaned, but took a seat along with the sisters. He stared vacantly at Excalibur, which was still sitting on the coffee table, waiting for the bombardment of questions he knew that he was about to receive.

Paige broke the silence first. "So, why did you freak out, Chris? You're like, the new King Arthur. And wouldn't you know since you're from the future? "

"No!" he yelled, making Piper and Paige jump. "Sorry," he continued quietly, "but I know from the future that the heir to Excalibur is definitely _not_ me."

"Then who is it?" Paige quickly asked.

"I can't tell you that."

"—Because of future consequences," Piper said. "Yeah, we know. But we all saw _you_ pull the sword out of the stone, so correct me if I'm wrong, but either you are the heir, a shape-shifter pretended to be you, or you worked some pretty powerful magic to get it out."

"I'm telling you: it was an accident. I'll just put this back where it belongs, and we'll be done with it. Okay?" said Chris exasperatedly.

As he was reaching forward to grab Excalibur, four executioner demons shimmered in along with the Dark Knight.

"It's him!" Paige yelled in recognition of the higher demon from earlier that day.

Chris didn't think; he reacted. He grabbed Excalibur and jumped to his feet. The sword whispered to him plans, battle strategies, hundreds of years' worth of knowledge. He immediately engaged one of the executioner demons in battle, vanquishing it after only a simple dodge and a slash of Excalibur. He turned to the next one, grinning; vanquishing demons had always had a rush to it, but that was nothing compared to fighting with Excalibur. Chris blocked the second demon's axe before twisting and stabbing it.

Paige had orbed one of the demon's own weapons to her, and used it to vanquish him. Piper blew the last executioner demon up with a flick of her hands.

Chris turned and raised Excalibur, ready to fight the Dark Knight. However, the Dark Knight scowled and shimmered away.

**Tada! Chapter 5 with my attempt at a fight sequence! **

**Tune in next time to find out what happens...****_[insert suspense music]_**


	6. Chapter 6

**I hear you: I will make longer chapters. I did go ahead and post this one, but the length of future chapters will be up to you. So I will try to either update twice a week with about one thousand word chapters(like this one) or once a week with about two thousand word chapters. This won't change my writing rate, just my update rate. The choice is yours, readers.**

**The Book of Shadows entry is from the Charmed Wiki on Wikia.**

The_ Dark Knight_

_A power mad  
paladin of  
destruction.  
Avoid him at  
all costs.  
If impossible  
approach him  
with extreme  
caution. His  
strongest  
defense is  
his death's  
head shield._

Paige sighed as she reread the article in the _Book of Shadows_. "This doesn't help at! 'Avoid him at all costs.' Okay, but how do we vanquish him?"

"Vanquish who?" asked Phoebe as she came into the attic.

"The Dark Knight," answered Piper. She was making the strongest vanquishing potion she could in case he came back.

"That creep from the lake?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes."

"Did he show back up? Are you all okay?"

"Yes, Phoebe, we're fine," Paige reassured her. "However, the book has nothing useful on The Dark Knight and nothing at all on Excalibur or Mordaunt."

"What happened to him?"

"I blew him up," her older sister replied.

"So I take it he wasn't a good guy after all," Phoebe noted.

"Not according to Chris," Paige said.

A faint jingling sound accompanied a column of blue orbs that revealed Leo.

"What took you so long?" Piper demanded.

"The elders and I had a lot to discuss," Leo said calmly. "Where is Chris?"

Piper said, "Downstairs." Leo nodded and suggested that he tell what the Elders said to him too.

Piper added the last ingredient to the vanquishing potion and bottled it. She handed a vial to each of her sisters before they headed down the stairs.

They found Chris simply sitting on the couch with a scowl on his face like he was remembering a painful memory. "So what did the book say?" he asked, quickly making his facial expression neutral.

"Nothing useful," Paige replied. "We're planning on just using these potions and a power of three spell."

"That should hopefully work. When did you get back?" he asked Leo.

"Just now," the Elder replied. "Where is Excalibur?"

Chris motioned towards the coffee table. He had planned on putting the sword back in stone sitting in the sun room; however, he couldn't make himself do it. After using it, even if only for a minute, he wanted to feel that rush again, to feel those few seconds of peace inside his soul where all of his doubts and worries fall away and it's only him, Excalibur, and whoever is foolish enough to stand in his way. There was a seed of the idea growing in his head that maybe his parents and Wyatt and destiny had it wrong and this wasn't a fluke, this was meant to be. Maybe this was how he could save Wyatt. _No,_ Chris told himself. _That's the sword talking. _The power corrupts, and he was already starting to fall prey to it.

That's what scared Chris more than anything: the idea of becoming like _him, _of ever being able to kill innocents and believe that it's perfectly okay. He hated the thought of ever giving in to Wyatt and joining him in his sick twisted kingdom. He was scared of ever looking in the mirror and not recognizing himself because he had become a monster.

Therefore Chris denied the sword—the symbol of corruption for him.

"So, what did the Elders have to say?" he asked.

"Well, first off, they described the many elaborate feasts and celebrations held when King Arthur claimed Excalibur," Leo started.

"So with all of their infinite wisdom and knowledge, they want us to throw a party?" Chris asked incredulously. "I don't have time for this."

"Be patient, I'm getting there," Leo said. "Then there were remembrances of the coronation and the assembly of the Knights of the Round Table."

"But what did they say about Excalibur?" Chris asked agitatedly.

Leo sighed. "They said that it was a big deal, and to be taken seriously. However, due to the special circumstances, this is out of their jurisdiction."

"What do you mean, 'out of their jurisdiction' and 'special circumstances'?"

"By special circumstances, they mean how you're from the future. Since you are not in your original time, they will need more time to discuss our options."

Chris scowled and threw his hands up in the air. "They are no help at all! Those idiots only sit up there in their robes and say everything is our problem!"

"Chris, calm down," Piper said. "We all know how useless the Elders are, but there's nothing we can do to change that. Let's just take this one day at a time. Our first priority right now is the Dark Knight."

Chris sighed. He knew that he would probably have disagreed with whatever the Elders had decided, but at least then someone else would have had any idea on what to do. He wanted to get this mess over with so he could save his brother.

He remembered from his mother's stories that the Dark Knight had been defeated quickly in the past without him, so he knew that he wasn't the one to get to Wyatt. Even though Chris wasn't worried about the Dark Knight, he knew that they needed to defeat him before he amassed more minions and became more of a threat.

"Did you try scrying for him?" Chris asked.

"No," Paige answered, "but we could try scrying for executioner demons, sine we got one of their weapons."

"That's worth a start, though he probably wants stronger minions now that they have been bested twice."

Paige nodded. "Then you can look in the book for demons for hire while I scry for them."

"Actually, I'm going to go check out some leads about who's after Wyatt," Chris said. He orbed out before anyone could reply.

"Do I need to scry for him too?" Paige asked.

"No," Piper replied. "I don't think that you would find him anyway." She paused as crying was heard from upstairs. "I'll help once I feed Wyatt. Leo or Phoebe can help you."

"But I have a date with Jason in thirty minutes," Phoebe objected.

"You're getting to Hong-Kong that quickly?" Paige asked.

"No, I'm using the computer." Phoebe then promptly ran up the stairs to get ready to talk to her boyfriend.

"I'll take care of Wyatt," Leo told Piper. "You go help your sister."

Piper thanked him before following Paige to the attic with the vanquished demon's axe.


	7. Chapter 7

**Since I got barely any opinions on the length, I'll just try to update about 1k word chapters twice a week because that's what works for me. **

**Here's the next chapter: enjoy!**

The sorcerer sighed as he relaxed into his chair. He was tired of working with lowly mortals just to get by.

He had stayed alive through manipulation and slick-talk. The source from about five years ago had had no use of him, favoring brawn and sheer force until his vanquish.

But the last source had valued his skills of manipulation and political finesse because the source had posed as a human lawyer before his assent to power. Since the wretched Charmed Ones had vanquished that source, throwing the underworld yet again into chaos, the sorcerer had taken up a job as a mortal lawyer too after magically faking documents for his background.

_It's a vicious cycle, _he thought. Though low-level brutes may be fine with frequent changes of regime, higher thinking beings like him needed some structure and consistency. The constant rise and fall of the source got a little annoying after a couple decades.

He had been developing a plan for power, one won not through violent overthrow of force, but one won through worming his way close to sources of power and slowly taking it from them. However, that plan required a source to stay in power long enough for him to become trusted.

The sorcerer was so lost in his musings that he was completely caught off guard when a figure whirled in. He jumped up and conjured a short sword, ready to fight whoever had managed to get into his house, let alone find it through all of the wards he had placed on it over the years.

The whirling stopped to reveal…himself. The other him was scowling and had his arm wrapped protectively around a hole in his side.

"Who are you, and how do you dare impersonate me?" the sorcerer asked his doppelganger with false bravado. He figured that he could take anyone as injured as the figure in his living room, but it never hurts to intimidate them.

The doppelganger just rolled his eyes before walking slowly off towards the bathroom. "Where is it?" he mumbled to himself. "Ah, here it is, just where I put it!" The impersonator smiled as if he was sharing some inside joke. He reached into the medicine cabinet and pulled out some bandages along with a magical healing salve that was stolen from some gypsies.

"I repeat, who are you?" the sorcerer repeated, putting force into his voice to hide the shaking. "Tell me how you got through my wards. I know I made them better than to allow a lowly shape shifter through."

The impersonator smiled as he applied the salve to his wound. "I am no lowly shape shifter," he said calmly. "And I assure you that I am more powerful than you—or at least you right now."

"Who. Are. You?"

The impersonator sighed. "It pains me to remember how naïve I was just— what is it? Just about twenty years ago. But to put it simply, I am you."

He knew that he should have had something cunning to say, but he was dumbfounded for a moment. "Don't play games with me," he threatened once he got his bearings. "I want to know who you are when you're not me or whoever else you pretend to be. Answer now or I will kill you."

"I would not advise doing that, because I really am you, or at least you from a little over twenty years in the future. When I come from, there is a new, very powerful source who had revealed magic and took over much of the world. That's a fine plan and all, but the fact of the matter is, he doesn't trust me." The 'future him' wrapped a bandage around his wound that was already starting to heal. He started walking towards the living room and the sorcerer followed him, interested but not showing it.

"Not that he should trust me," the doppelganger continued. "But still, he won't give me any responsibility or control. You know what they say: keep your friends close and your enemies closer. He probably plans on eventually draining my powers. He seems to like keeping people around simply to use them for their power, which is admirable, but I would much rather be the one stealing powers. Which is why I came back here to the past; I was planning on corrupting the mother of the source and using a ritual to steal the power of Excalibur—"

"Wait, Excalibur?" the sorcerer asked. Though it was vaguely familiar, he couldn't exactly place the name.

"Yes, Excalibur. That is a sword that's the main source and symbol of the source's power in the future. Now, as I was saying, his mother was supposed to claim it as the Lady of the Lake. However, the source's slimy little brother decided that he wanted the power to himself, so he came back and took the sword for himself. That must be why he was so reluctant to join his brother. Once I heard that he had Excalibur, I planned on corrupting him, but the brat recognized me and had his mother do this." The impersonator scowled and gestured towards the hole in his midsection.

"Why are you telling me this?" the sorcerer asked.

The doppelganger smiled carnivorously. "Why, myself, I need your power."

The sorcerer held the short sword in a defensive position. "You're not getting it."

"Calm down, I'm not going to kill you; I'm not suicidal. What I need is to combine our powers in order to kill the Charmed One and her sons. Then we shall possess Excalibur and be unstoppable. The whole entire world will bow at my-our-feet."

The sorcerer smiled too. The visitor was crazy, but he'd play along until he possessed this Excalibur. _No, I'll be unstoppable._

**Yes, there are no Charmed Ones or Chris this chapter, but they'll be in the next one. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks to everyone who is still following this story. It means a lot to me.**

**Here's chapter eight:**

Chris scowled as he looked around the cavern. He had always hated the underworld with all of the caves and monotony. It didn't help that the place was full of demons.

One of the first times he had been there he had been about twelve and had followed Wyatt there. Chris had been mad that no one had let him help much with vanquishing demons, so he had orbed after his brother in hopes of helping Wyatt and being thanked for his help. Of course that's not what had happened; a demon had shown up and Chris had panicked. Wyatt had had to save his screaming little brother and orb him back to a very angry and worried mother. Chris had been grounded—literally, as in no orbing or magic—for a month after that. Wyatt had managed to get off of the hook for going in the first place, claiming that he had followed Chris instead of the other way around.

_Because perfect little Wyatt can do no wrong, _Chris thought angrily. Even though his mother had just been worried about him, he still hated it when Wyatt could get off of the hook so easily. His father had been no help, always making it very clear who he favored. Chris had tried telling him his suspicions about Wyatt after they had lost their mother, but Leo had just ignored them and said that Chris was making it up. He had said that the fourteen-year-old should be ashamed of himself for blaming his brother for anything when he had been the one to let his mother die.

Chris leaned against a wall to get his bearings. Bitter memories of his father wouldn't help him save his brother. He stood up strait and entered the main cavern.

The demon who had been sitting on a couch in the cavern looked up and frowned. "Chris, I wasn't expecting you."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Of course you weren't."

The demon stood up and tucked a piece of brown hair behind her ear. "So, what do you want to see today? The lucky lottery numbers are 4, 5, 2, 9—"

"I'm not here for lottery numbers," Chris said. "I'm here for something much more important."

The seer smiled. She walked to the pool at the center of her cave and swirled the water with her hand. "I might like you Chris, but I don't work for free."

"I know how it works."

She frowned as she looked into the pool. "This isn't right."

"What is it, Kyra?" Chris asked. He ran to the side of the looking pool, trying to see something.

"Something's blocking my vision. Something powerful." She tilted her head to the side, her face scrunched up in concentration. "Wait, I think I see a…a sword?"

"What is it? What about the sword?" Chris asked desperately.

Kyra leaned forwards, deep in concentration. "I see-Ah!" she exclaimed suddenly, pulling back.

"What happened?" Chris asked worried.

"I...I can't tell you what you want to know. Please leave now."

"Tell me what you saw or I'll—"

"I am done doing business with you, so please leave," the seer said , refusing to meet his gaze.

Chris sent one last glance at her before orbing out.

Paige sighed as she dangled the currently useless crystal over the map. "Find anything?" she asked her sister hopefully.

"Well that's the problem," Piper said, "I found too much. Other than executioner demons, The Dark Knight could hire tracer demons, raptor demons, or any of an assortment of assassins. How do we know that he would even hire any of these?"

"Because he's a coward," Paige replied.

Piper sighed.

"Should we just stock up on potions and be prepared?" Paige asked.

"No, we go after the executioner demons, and if that's a bust, we hunt every single demon he would even think of hiring."

"Well, let's get Chris down here and hunt demons like crazy. It's not like I have a job or anything," Paige added sarcastically.

"Last time I checked, you don't," Piper said.

Paige scowled at her. "I would if you'd let me go to the temp agency. Besides, Chris is a big boy; he can handle a little knight on his own. And did you see the way he was with Excalibur? He was freakily good."

Piper rolled her eyes. "He's probably had plenty of practice from the future. We really need to grill Mr. Future Consequences about that anyway."

Paige nodded. She knew that she wasn't getting out of the house the normal way with Piper so adamant on hunting the demon, so she resumed scrying for the executioner demons. The crystal found them almost instantly. "I got them!" she exclaimed.

Piper grabbed a few potions and grabbed her youngest sister's arm as she orbed.

They arrived in a standard (cliché) alley and were quickly attacked by a dozen demons. Piper and Paige went into action immediately. Piper threw potions at two demons while Paige orbed behind a few and wrestled away one's axe which she used to vanquish him and his partner. Piper froze one demon before Paige cut it down. Then Paige orbed Piper's last potion at another demon.

They continued fighting—Piper blowing up demons and Paige vanquishing them with the axe—until there was only one left. The last demon noticed he was alone and started to shimmer away, but Piper froze all of him except his head.

"There will be more of my brethren, just you wait," the demon threatened, but they all knew it was an empty threat.

Paige walked up to him. "How about you tell me who sent you before your nonexistent reinforcements show up. We have been vanquishing your kind all day, and I have no problems with adding one more to the list."

The demon sneered. "I'll never tell you. I am loyal—" Piper held up her hands threateningly. "Okay, fine, we were sent by our master, who gives us all of our assignments. I think he was taking orders from that one demon with the shield, but I don't know who. That's all I know, I swear."

"Could you tell us where to find him?" Piper asked.

"Our master is all powerful! He would kill you all!"

"You said that your master was taking orders from someone," Paige said pointedly. "That doesn't make him seem powerful to me."

The demon glared at her. "I don't answer to witches." Piper's freeze wore off and the demon lunged at Paige; however, Piper blew him up before he could reach Paige.

Paige sighed in part relief, part disappointment. "Well, there goes that lead."

**I had Chris consult Kyra about the future because of her powers, obviously, but also because she tried to turn good, so he would probably know she can be trusted. **

**Reviews are cool. Just saying.**


	9. Chapter 9

**This chapter starts off with another flashback to the future, if that makes any sense. Enjoy, my peeps.**

**Warning: There is mild language in this chapter, but I think it's okay for the rating. Tell me if you think it isn't, and I can change the rating to T if need be. This story will probably change to T anyway before it's over.**

_"It will be easy, Chris," Hailey reassured him. "Just a quick run in and out. Wyatt won't even know we were there." She smiled reassuringly, but there was a glint of doubt in her eyes that Chris couldn't miss. Not that he expected the fifteen-year-old to be completely sure of herself; she had been thrown into this world too young, just like the rest of his cousins. He was extremely proud of her for staying so strong after the death of her twin sister two years ago, especially since they had been so close._

_He rolled his eyes before following her quickly across the yard of the manor. They had orbed to almost a block away to avoid the magic use being sensed. Chris boosted Hailey up to the window, and he couldn't help but notice how easy it was, despite their five year age difference. But he couldn't worry about that then, seeing as in everyone was stretched a little thin on food. She in turn helped him up through the window._

_It pained Chris to see the house so cold and displayed as a museum as if their parent's lives were something to be gawked at. They slowly and silently went through the house, constantly wary for guards. Chris knew something was up when they made it to the book unhindered, but he didn't want to push his look by saying anything. He reached for the book, and his hand went right through._

_"Damn it,"_ _he hissed. "It's a hologram or illusion spell or whatever. It's not there," he despaired. _

_Chris heard slow clapping coming from a corner of the attic. He whipped his head around to see Wyatt appear out of the shadows. He put an arm protectively in front of Hailey. "Get out of here," he hissed. Hailey didn't move. "Now."_

_"I can't orb," she said panicked._

_"Of course you can't," Wyatt said casually. "I put a spell on the whole place. I swear, sometimes you must think I'm stupid, Chrissy. I wouldn't actually let you enter the manor, let alone actually get the book." _

_Chris threw his arm out to sling Wyatt across the room, but Wyatt simply held his hand up and countered the attack. Hailey tried to run to the window, but Wyatt flamed in front of her, grabbing her. _

_"How about we cut a deal?" Wyatt asked. Hailey struggled violently, but he had no trouble holding her. "You, Chrissy, join me and stop your stupid resistance project." Chris paled. "Yes, I know about your stupid little 'Resistance'. It's kind of cute, actually; that's why I let it stay. I was really hoping for you to grow out of your rebellious stage years ago. Anyway, I won't cut down this weakling if you stop all of this good versus evil nonsense and join me like you should have a long time ago."_

_Chris watched helplessly as Hailey tried to keep a brave face. "Why would I join someone who would willingly kill his own family?" he yelled, desperately trying to talk some sense into his brother. "Stop this madness and just spend time with what little family you have left."_

_Wyatt was silent for a moment, and Chris let a glimmer of hope arise. "How about no?" Wyatt said coldly. He turned Hailey towards him. "If you swear allegiance to me and my cause, then I will allow you to serve me," he offered._

_Hailey stared into his eyes, tears forming in her own. "No," she spat._

_Wyatt threw her to the floor before he calmly summoned Excalibur to him. He raised the sword above Hailey's prone form. He looked at Chris and said almost remorsefully, "I tried to give her a chance, brother, but she wouldn't listen." And the sword fell in a clean arc towards the teenage girl._

"No!" Chris screamed. He sat up gasping for air.

It took him a minute to realize that he had just been dreaming—to remember that Hailey's death had been almost seven years ago. Telling his Aunt Paige about her daughter's death had been one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do. He had blamed himself for it for months afterward. He still did; he had just buried the pain and guilt as deep as he could, along with the pain and guilt of all of the other people he had failed in his life. Chris had learned a long time ago that no matter how it sucked and no matter how much of a failure he knew he was, people still needed him. Life went on.

If only he'd been stronger, maybe he could have saved Hailey. Maybe he could have saved her twin or have saved Patricia or Peyton or his Aunt Phoebe. He could have saved his mother.

_I'm going to fix this, _he told himself, _for everyone who I've failed._

A streak of blue orbs appeared in the backroom of P3, startling him.

"What are you doing here Leo?" Chris asked agitatedly when he recognized the figure.

"The elders want to talk to you," Leo started. Chris groaned. "They want to see how well you wield Excalibur."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Look, Leo, I don't have time for this. I know that I am not the heir to Excalibur, and all of this stuff is keeping me from helping _your_ son."

"I'm all for protecting Wyatt, Chris, believe me," Leo said. "But tell me this: if you aren't the heir to the sword, then who is? Just cut all of this future consequences crap. I don't trust you Chris, but the sisters told me what you did. How, Chris? Why? If you used some really powerful dark magic or whatever to get Excalibur, then why are you denying being the heir? Wouldn't it be easier to say you are?"

Chris was silent for a moment, surprised by Leo's outburst. He stood up and said harshly, "Look, Leo, I don't know how it happened! But believe me when I say that I have seen lots of terrible things in the future, stuff you can't even imagine. I've spent the last I don't know how many years of my life in hiding while watching people I love die. And at the center of it all is a guy using Excalibur to wreck people's lives and kill anyone who dares stand in his way. I want nothing to do with that damn sword! " Chris fell silent, realizing how much he had just said. He orbed out without another word.

**I created Hailey in my head just to kill her off. It's kind of sad, especially since I liked her-she was more developed in my head than I gave her in a few paragraphs, but I wasn't going to go on too long about her since she's not important to the plot. **

**Thanks for reading. Seriously. Thank you. :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Almost to fifty reviews! Thanks so much guys.**

******Randomly Placed Disclaimer: I hope you could already tell by now, but I am taking liberties with one-episode chracters like Mordaunt(the writers never gave us much on him anyway, and he's fun to write). However, I am trying to keep main characters like the sisters and Leo mostly in character. Nevertheless, Chris is falling prey to my plot. Sadly, I still own nothing. None. Zip. Nada. **

"I heard that you were dead," were the first words out of the Dark Knight's mouth after he saw his previous business partner.

"Nice to see you too," the sorcerer replied as he looked around the dismal cave. "Were you hoping I was?" he asked, a hint of a threat in his calm voice.

The knight shook his head. "I was just telling you what I've heard."

"Well, don't believe everything that you hear. However, I would like to keep my actual state of health classified, so for business purposes, rumors of my death are fine."

"What do you want, Mordaunt?" the Dark Knight asked as if already tired of the conversation.

"Don't get so worked up," Mordaunt told him in a tone one would use with a child. "I simply want to continue business with you. I presume you still want Excalibur, do you not?"

The knight tensed. "Yes," he replied stiffly.

"I have to admit, I didn't expect you to survive your encounter with its current wielder," Mordaunt noted casually. "Not that he is a threat, of course."

The knight scowled at the insult. "It's not my fault that the executioner demons are worthless. I simply need better help in order to kill him and take Excalibur."

"Don't worry about the help; I'll take care of that. But we will wait first for the power to corrupt him, and then when he's on a power high, we'll rip it out from under him."

"Your stupid plan isn't going to work," the knight growled. "The boy has clearly already started bonding with the sword. We need to kill him before he gains full control of Excalibur, plain and simple."

Mordaunt smiled coldly. "Oh, we will kill him, along with his whole family. But first, we will have a little fun."

* * *

Piper Halliwell had a lot on her mind. Chris had not shown back up since he'd orbed off to who knows where. That was expected behavior of him, but Piper got the feeling he was purposely avoiding her and her sisters and their questions. Piper, however, was not to going to let him keep avoiding real answers, future consequences or not.

Somehow, her neurotic whitelighter from the future was the heir to Excalibur, and by extension, the new King Arthur Sure, she had known he was a whitelighter and that he had at least claimed to want to protect her son, but being the chosen ruler of the world was another thing. She wasn't sure how that would even work with him being from the future, though apparently the Elders had to clue either. That gave her a little satisfaction to know that even the 'all-knowing' Elders were confused. Paige and she had stashed the sword in the attic, though the large stone was still sitting in their sunroom; Paige had claimed to be too tired to orb it upstairs.

"What are you thinking about?" Phoebe asked, startling Piper out of her thoughts.

"Nothing," Piper said. At Phoebe's disbelieving look, she corrected, "Everything."

Phoebe nodded in understanding while pouring herself a cup of coffee. "So, what all did I miss?"

Piper filled the empath in on what had transpired with Mordaunt and then on her and Paige's demon vanquish while Phoebe sipped her coffee.

"Aw, I guess I missed all of the fun," Phoebe whined jokingly.

Piper looked at her quizzically. "Didn't you enjoy your date with Jason?" she asked.

Phoebe shrugged. "It was okay, I guess. We just talked about basically nothing for a few minutes before he had to go to a meeting."

"I'm sorry. But you know what they say about long distance relationships—"

Phoebe held up her hand. "Don't say it."

Piper rolled her eyes as she stood up. "Well, I'm going to go get Wyatt for his breakfast."

* * *

"I don't know what I'm doing with it, but I swear to you that I'm not letting you get your hands on it," Chris promised young Wyatt as he stood in the doorframe of his brother's nursery.

Chris knew the main reason he didn't want Wyatt to have Excalibur was because he was jealous. He chuckled dryly; it was sadly ironic how he had envied Wyatt all of his life for having all of the powers with Excalibur's powers heaped on, yet when he finally got the power he had so desperately wished he had, he had denied it.

"What are you doing?" asked Piper, coming down the hall.

Chris jumped slightly, surprised. "I was just talking to Wyatt."

Piper pursed her lips. "About what?"

"Nothing," Chris replied. "I need to go check the book for another lead."

He started to head towards the attic. "Wait a minute, mister," Piper ordered him. Chris stopped—he knew that tone. It was Piper's "you're in trouble and there's no escaping it" tone.

The little kid still in him tried to figure out what he had done wrong. Coming up with nothing, he turned around and asked, "Yes, Piper?"

"I want answers," she said, "not this 'future consequences' crap, but the whole entire truth."

Chris suppressed a groan. "Look, Piper, I've already explained this to you: if I tell you anything about the future, then we risk making it worse."

Piper rolled her eyes. "This is exactly what I told you I didn't want as an answer. How am I supposed to trust you to keep my son safe if I know nothing about you?"

Chris sighed. "Just know that I will do almost anything for Wyatt. I didn't have to come all the way to the past to save him, but I did. And I plan to see this through to the end."

Piper glanced over at the bundle of blankets in Wyatt's crib. "Why, Chris?" she asked.

Chris got a pained look in his eyes. "Can't we just leave it at that?" he asked. "I am here in your son's best interests." _Whether he knows it or not,_ Chris thought.

Piper was silent for a moment. "You must have been close to him to put up with us for so long."

"I was very close to him," Chris muttered.

"Were you friends?" she asked.

"Something like that."

"Am I a good mother?" Piper blurted out. Chris gaped at her. She winced. "That bad?"

"No, not at all," he quickly assured her. "You're a great mother. I was just surprised that you would think otherwise."

"Thanks Chris, that means a lot to me," Piper said as she went to pick up Wyatt.

Piper gasped. "What is it Piper?" Chris asked, running into Wyatt's nursery. He looked down into Wyatt's cradle, and instead of seeing his brother laying there in the tangle of blankets, he saw only Wyatt's teddy bear.

"It's Wyatt," Piper said. "He's gone."

**Yes, Wyatt was gone during Piper and Chris's whole conversation. They didn't notice because the kidnapper(it's totally not obvious who it is...) used the classic blanket stuffing trick to hide Wyatt's absence. It always works in the movies.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Enjoy.**

"Why does every demon have to be after my son?" Piper asked as she threw another ingredient into the potion she was making, turning it dark purple.

Paige simply shrugged, afraid to answer her worked-up sister. She sighed as her scrying crystal continued to spin aimlessly above the map.

"How could I be such a terrible mother, to not notice that he was gone?"

"I was standing there too, and I didn't notice a thing," Chris pointed out.

"But you're not his mother. Though, seriously, does every single random demon have to go after our family?" Piper ranted. She put the final ingredient into her potion, causing a puff of smoke.

"I'm sure Wyatt's fine," Phoebe consoled her sister. "He's got his shield."

Piper glared at her. "He's not fine until he's back here where he belongs. And where is Leo? I've been calling for him for forever."

"He's probably up with the Elders or something," Chris said.

As if on cue, Leo orbed in. "You called?"

"Only about a thousand times!" Piper exclaimed. "Our son has been kidnapped, but it takes you forever to even come!"

Leo winced. "I was with the—"

"Elders, we know," Chris said.

"Speaking of which, the Elders still want to see you."

Chris rolled his eyes. "I don't care what they want," he said. "We have more important things to worry about, like how Wyatt is in danger."

"Do you know who took him?" Leo asked dropping the subject of the Elders for then.

"Possibly that knight guy," Phoebe said. "He's the only demon we're currently fighting."

"Do you have anything to scry for him with?"

"Yes," Paige said sarcastically, "I'm scrying for him with this teddy bear." She held up Wyatt's teddy bear.

Leo sighed. "I take it we have no solid leads."

"Why don't we just summon the Dark Knight?" Paige asked.

"With what?" Chris asked. "We don't have anything to use."

"We could summon with the weapon of one of his goons," Paige suggested. "If we phrase the spell right, then we should be able to summon their leader, who will tell us how to find the Dark Knight—with the right amount of persuasion, of course."

Piper nodded. "That's a good of a lead as any. I can't stand to just stand around doing nothing."

Twenty minutes later found them with a spell and a crystal cage. Phoebe had written the spell while Paige had set up the crystal cage. They would set the axe outside of the cage as a sort of tether to the demon, as in scrying.

Phoebe walked over to the crystal cage with her sisters. "Ready?" she asked, holding up the sheet of paper the spell was written on.

Together, the three sisters read the spell:

_Leader of Executioners, we summon thee_

_Come to us the power of three _

_Quickly, before we age_

Paige cocked an eyebrow at Phoebe. "Really?" she asked. "Is that the best you could come up with?"

Phoebe shrugged. "Piper was rushing me," she defended. When a demon shimmered into the cage, she smirked at her younger sister. "See, it worked."

"Who dare summons me?" the demon asked with fake bravado.

"The people who have you trapped in a cage," Piper said. The demon sneered. "You are the leader of the Executioner demons, right?" she asked.

"Who's asking?"

Piper shrugged. "None of your business, but I'll take that as a yes."

Chris stepped up to the cage. "What can you tell us about the Dark Knight?" he asked.

A fleeting look of anger crossed the demon's face. "Nothing."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Do you really think we would believe that? We know that you have been working with him; we've seen your goons with him twice. And you know what? We vanquished all of them." Technically, he'd only fought them once, but going off of the sister's stories really helped his threat.

The demon could no longer contain his anger. "You have been the ones killing all of my men!" he exclaimed. "You will pay for this!"

Paige laughed. "You do realize that you're the one in a cage, right? If you don't tell us everything you know, we won't have a problem with doing this the hard way."

The demon paled considerably. "Okay, fine," he broke down. "The stupid knight wanted my men, but they weren't good enough for him. I guess I'm never getting that place on the round table," he mumbled that last sentence.

"Wait, what about the round table?" Chris asked.

"Nothing—he probably wasn't going to give it to me anyway. He especially won't now, since he said that he'd failed to keep Excalibur out of the true heir's hands." Chris flinched slightly. "He kept saying some crap about how that Mordo creep said that—"

"You mean Mordaunt?" Chris asked dreadfully.

"Yeah, that's his name. You know the guy?" the demon asked.

"Not particularly," Chris said stiffly.

The demon smirked. "Good for you. The guy scares the hell out of me. But you asked about the Dark Knight."

"No, tell us more about Mordaunt."

"Chris, stop wasting time," Piper said. "We vanquished Mordaunt. It's the Dark Knight we're worried about."

The demon then looked confused. "Sure, I heard rumors about his death, but I saw Mordo earlier talking to the Dark Knight."

Now it was Chris's turn to pale. "Wait, so he's alive?"

The demon shrugged. "It looked that way to me."

Chris grabbed a potion from the table and used it to vanquish the head executioner demon. "Mordaunt's the one who took Wyatt," Chris said with conviction to the sisters before they could protest to him vanquishing their source of information.

"How can you be so sure?" Piper asked. "You never told us how you knew he was evil."

Chris sighed. "In the future, he's one of the source's most infamous allies," Chris started.

"Wait, he's from the future too?" Paige asked.

Chris nodded. "I guess ally is too strong of a term, since the source never did trust Mordaunt, he just kept him around to scare people and eventually steal powers from. At least that's what I've heard." Once when Wyatt had captured Chris, he had told Chris about how Mordaunt was an expendable asset, and Mordaunt knew it. Wyatt had also mentioned that Mordaunt would kill him if he ever got the chance. However, Chris's parents and aunts didn't need to know who the source was in the future.

"Anyway," Chris continued, "he has a reputation as one of the slimiest and power-hungriest sorcerers ever. With all of the powers Wyatt has, it's no wonder he would want them. Trust me when I say that he took Wyatt."

"I'm all for vanquishing him again, especially to save Wyatt," Piper said, "but Mordaunt showed up after you drew Excalibur claiming to be a teacher for the heir. Also the head executioner demon said that he was working with the Dark Knight, who also wanted Excalibur. What does kidnapping Wyatt have to do with getting Excalibur?"

_Everything, _Chris thought_. _

He shrugged. "I guess it's just another source of power to him."

**Next month I will be participating in the NaNoWriMo, so updates may be sparse. However, I do have some chapters saved up to keep it going at lest the first week or so.**

**I like reviews and chocalate-but reviews will do.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Here is chapter twelve. Hope you like it. :)**

In a crowded bar in the underworld, a cloaked figure entered unnoticed. He wove around patrons, slowly working towards the bar. Chris sighed, not wanting to do what he was about to do.

Earlier, Paige had pointed out that if Mordaunt hadn't killed Wyatt—they were all under silent agreement that no one would even suggest that they might be too late to save him—then Wyatt must be bait. Mordaunt knew that Chris had Excalibur, so he had probably taken Chris's charge to get to him.

Piper had then, referring to her and Chris's earlier conversation, said that if Mordaunt was from the future, he probably knew that Chris and Wyatt were friends. Chris had made no reply to the questioning glances from his aunts and father.

Chris had then suggested that they probably needed to draw Mordaunt—or at least the knight—out of hiding.

Paige had just had to point out that if Mordaunt wanted Excalibur, then it was the best bait for him.

Thus, a plan had come together.

Chris took a deep breath before muttering to himself, "Here goes nothing."

He climbed up on the bar, knocking a few drinks off in the process. Ignoring threats from the owners of said drinks, Chris threw off his cloak and summoned Excalibur to him in a swirl of blue orbs. He heard mutters and gasps from many of the demons around him. One burly demon with a short beard threw a fireball at Chris, who casually deflected it back at him.

"I am your king!" Chris declared, holding Excalibur high above his head. _I'm doing this for you, Wyatt,_ he thought. _They do say that imitation is the best form of flattery._ "Bow down before me!"

Nobody moved, but Chris knew he had their full attention. Demons were used to upstarts declaring power, but a whitelighter declaring that was another story.

"Well?" he asked. "I'm waiting."

A tall bald demon growled. "We won't follow some stupid upstart whitelighter with a stupid sword."

Chris scowled. "A stupid sword?" he asked truly offended; he might not have been overly excited to be using Excalibur his act, but he knew how powerful it was. Any random stupid sword doesn't make one nearly invincible. A stupid sword is not one used by one of the most famous kings ever, and it is also not one used by a twice-blessed tyrant. "Do you not know what sword this is?" he asked. Silence. "Do you want me to show you?"

A demon in the back shimmered out, but Chris made no move to stop him. The plan relied on living demons spreading the word of his actions.

The same bald demon that had spoken out walked up to the bar where Chris was standing. "How about I kill you?"

Chris rolled his eyes. "You could try."

The demon drew two daggers and attacked swiftly. Chris parried a few strikes before stabbing the demon, who went up in flames.

Chris calmly addressed the crowd, "Does anybody else want to die? Bow now and I will spare you the wrath of Excalibur." He was having trouble standing there calmly after a little taste of action. Excalibur was practically screaming at him to kill all of the demons right then and there, but Chris knew that he needed to make a big impression and leave at least some alive to spread rumors.

A few demons gasped. Chris smirked. At least some demons had heard of it. "That's right, people: this is _the_ legendary sword, and I am its master." He cringed inwardly at that statement, yet he reasoned with himself that he had to say that for his ruse to have its full effect.

He waited a minute as some demons shimmered out and others whispered in hushed tones.

Surprisingly, a few demons slowly knelt on their knees. "See?" Chris asked pointedly, gesturing towards the kneeling demons. "That's not so difficult." Chris wasn't expecting any to actually do as they were told, so he decided that he would probably kill those demons first. He didn't actually want backstabbing demon 'followers', as he was sure they would turn out to be. He never understood why Wyatt would want to work with creatures that would gladly kill him any chance they got.

Only one more demon bowed. Chris noted that he shouldn't be surprised that any demons would just randomly pledge themselves to their new source, which was what he had technically just claimed himself to be. Chris really hated this plan; there would be a lot of clean-up after they saved Wyatt.

Chris scowled; these demons were hard to intimidate. He had thought his acting skills were at least somewhat decent from hiding the truth from his mother and aunts. "Anyone who is not with me is against me and my brother," he said..

Chris felt Excalibur's power thrumming through his veins. Without warning, he jumped off the bar into the crowd of demons. He started slashing and stabbing left and right, using the element of surprise to his advantage. He smiled, enjoying the rush of battle way more than his new ruler act. Chris slew demons left and right, Excalibur guiding him as much as he was guiding it. For all of the chaos around him, he felt surprisingly at peace.

As he fought, Chris had flashes of battles long ago fought. He saw a hand reaching out of a lake. He saw a group of men sitting around a round table inside a bright palace. He saw a young man on a majestic white horse charging into battle with Excalibur raised high and hundreds of men behind him.

Chris vanquished the last remaining demon in the bar, though a few had already escaped death by shimmering or flaming out. He knew he should have been tired or at least winded, but he felt fine—if not a little disappointed—as the adrenaline started to fade.

Chris grabbed a fallen demon's knife and carved the symbol Wyatt used as a sort of brand for his "empire" into the bar as best as he could. It was supposed to be burned in, but Chris had no fire powers, so carved was the best he could do. It would still have the same effect: Mordaunt was the only person who would recognize the brand Wyatt used, and that should be a clear enough message—threat— within itself.

Technically, the plan had been to kill a bunch of demons with Excalibur so Mordaunt would hear that Chris was using it openly and come get it. However, since Mordaunt had worked for Wyatt, Chris had decided that he should go ahead and scare him the only way he knew how—impersonating Wyatt.

All he had to do now was wait for Mordaunt to hear about this, and hopefully he would come to him.

**I don't have much to say, but I do love feedback and the people who give it along with those who are the silent type, and I love run-on sentences because they just happen through the over-use of commas and conjuctions, though they are gramatically incorrect. Sorry if they're actually in the story though.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Enjoy. Or not. Whatever floats your boat. I would go with the former if I were you though; the later seems like a waste of time to me. **

"Why is Chris taking so long?" Paige asked.

"Maybe he got lost," Phoebe replied.

"We have a problem," Leo said as he orbed into the kitchen.

"What?" Piper asked quickly.

"It's Chris. I think he's—"

He was interrupted by Chris orbing in. Seeing Leo quiet right away, he asked, "What's going on?"

Leo stepped forward. "It's over Chris. I know what you did."

"Wow," Chris said surprised, "word travels fast. I've only been gone for like an hour."

"It's been over two," Piper corrected.

"I know, but I've been checking the book and preparing some potions. I meant an hour since I left the underworld."

"You've been here for a whole hour and you didn't tell us?" Piper asked incredulously.

Chris shrugged. "You didn't come in the attic or call for me."

"Don't listen to him," Leo warned. "He's probably been off in the underworld with his demon friends."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Whatever you heard, it's not true. It's called acting. Did you not hear the plan?"

"What plan involves you declaring yourself—"

"I was making a scene on purpose, Leo," Chris interrupted. "It seemed the best way to make an impression. How did the Elders even hear anything anyway? It was strictly demons and warlocks there."

"It doesn't matter. The Elders have named you a threat because you've already been corrupted by the power of Excalibur."

Chris winced. That was what he was afraid of. He didn't feel like he was being corrupted by Excalibur, but then again Wyatt hadn't either. "I told you, it was all an act," he defended. "I needed Mordaunt to think I'm using Excalibur openly—it's like a challenge. He should be here soon, so let's set up some cages and prepare for him. How about we save your son before you keep on with the accusations?"

Leo sighed. "Fine, I'll try to reason with the Elders for now, but I'm keeping an eye on you."

It took almost two hours for Mordaunt to show up. Piper had been scrying for Wyatt again when he had whirled in and held a knife to her throat before she could react.

"Don't you dare call for your husband or your son," he hissed in her ear. "Now tell me, where is Wyatt?"

"You took him, you son of a bitch," Piper spat.

"Don't play games with me," he warned. "I mean the adult one."

"What are you talking about?" she asked confused.

"I know he came back here and got the sword from your little brat," Mordaunt said.

"Excalibur?" Piper asked.

"Oh, I guess Christopher didn't tell you that he stole the sword," Mordaunt said tauntingly. "It doesn't matter anyway; I'm killing your whole family, and there's nothing you can do about it."

Piper froze. Chris has repeatedly told them that the sword wasn't his, but he had never told them whose it was. The way Mordaunt was talking…it couldn't be Wyatt's, could it? Then how could Chris have drawn Excalibur? Did the sword take their friendship that seriously? It made no sense. Piper shook those thoughts from her head; she needed to stay focused and get out of this mess to save her son.

"I swear, if you hurt my—"

Mordaunt rolled his eyes—not that Piper could see it. "Seriously, you're threatening me? It's hilarious how much attitude you have. I see where he got it. Anyway, we're getting off topic. Tell me where Wyatt is, or I'll gut you like a fish. It's simple really." He pressed the knife harder into her throat.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Piper stressed. "I would know if I'd seen my son."

Mordaunt laughed.

"What's so funny?" Piper asked angrily. She hated how this man had the nerve to come into her house and threaten her when he knew very well that he had taken Wyatt. And now he thought she couldn't recognize her own son if he was in front of her. She really wished her hands were free to blow him up, even if that hadn't killed him last time.

"It's just the irony of the whole thing. I am assuming that he hasn't told you. I think I'll kill him then I'll tell you. It's all very poetic."

"Tell me what?"

"It's a secret," Mordaunt said. "Now stop distracting me and tell me where your eldest is before I'm forced to hurt you."

"Start making sense!" Piper yelled. She winced as the blade cut in deeper, drawing blood.

"I told you—"

He was interrupted by the door opening. "Piper? I heard talking—" Chris stopped as he took in the scene before him. "Get away from her!" he yelled. He scolded himself for leaving Piper alone. This was not how the plan was supposed to go.

Mordaunt smiled casually. "Well look who decided to join the party," he said excitedly.

Chris tensed. "Where's Wyatt?" he asked.

"Have you not seen him?" Mordaunt asked. Realization dawned on Mordaunt's face. "Oh, I see. You were behind that little fiasco in the underworld. I had thought you were jealous of Wyatt, but I'd never expected that out of you. You could have at least come up with your own symbol, you know."

"What symbol are you talking about?" Piper asked.

"It's not important," Chris said stiffly. "I'm warning you Mordaunt, let Piper go now."

"It's funny how powerful you think you are," Mordaunt said. "But let's face the truth; you are a weak little momma's boy, and you always will be."

"You know nothing about me," Chris growled, taking a step forward.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Take another step and I'll slit her pretty little throat," Mordaunt threatened. "And you wouldn't want that, would you?" he added pointedly.

Piper noticed how panicked Chris looked as he took a step back.

"Then again," Mordaunt mused, "I've been looking forward to killing you too. Decisions, decisions."

Chris caught Piper's eye and gave the slightest nod. "Knife!" he yelled, throwing his arm out to the side. The knife disappeared from Mordaunt's hand in a blur of orbs.

Piper jerked her arm back into his gut and twisted from his grasp. "Where is my son?" she asked, holding her hands up ready to blow him up. "I swear, I will blow you up so many times you'll never come back if you don't tell me right now."

Mordaunt looked unfazed. "Which son?" he asked naïvely.

"Don't play games with me," Piper growled. "I've had enough of this. Where is Wyatt?!"

Mordaunt smiled creepily. "I'll give him back to you, one piece at a time." He started to whirl, but Chris was already in motion. As Chris tackled him, they both disappeared, leaving Piper alone in the attic.

**I hate to end it so fast, but this story is almost over. There is only one more chapter and the epilogue left. However, there is the possibility of sequels in this AU, but not anytime too soon. **


	14. Chapter 14

**This is coming early partly as me being nice and partly because I know i won't be able to get it up tomorrow. Without further ado, I present to you: the last chapter except for the short epilogue that should be up sometime this weekend.**

Chris had never tackled anybody teleporting before, but apparently momentum did continue through teleportation; Mordaunt hit the ground in a vast cave in the underworld with Chris on top of him. Chris got his bearings first and jumped up. Mordaunt was lying on the ground seemingly dazed—he probably hadn't been expecting any non-magical attacks.

Without a second thought, Chris summoned Excalibur to him. He pressed the tip to Mordaunt's throat. "You've really managed to piss me off," he said harshly, "so let's get this over with. Where is my brother?"

"You just keep surprising me, Christopher," Modaunt said. "You seriously brought Excalibur right to me."

Chris scowled. "You will never get it, because nobody gets away with taking my brother or threatening my mother."

Suddenly, Excalibur was knocked away from Chris by another sword that had appeared in Mordaunt's hand. Mordaunt jumped up and slashed the sword at Chris who orbed away. Chris reappeared where Excalibur had landed and picked it up.

Mordaunt shook his head. "You seriously need to get over your attachment to that. You just have to steal all of Wyatt's toys, don't you?" he taunted.

"Stop acting like you know me," Chris said.

"Fine, all of this small-talk was getting boring anyway."

And they leapt at each-other, the swords clashing in mid-air.

The rest of the world fell as adrenaline and Excalibur's power flowed through Chris along with a sense of righteousness. He realized he wasn't just fighting for his anger or even just for his family; he was fighting to protect the world from monsters like Mordaunt who wanted to exploit power.

As they parried and stroke, Chris noted that Mordaunt wasn't just some cut-rate demon—he had some serious sword training. However, Chris wasn't in a hurry to end the fight, instead he needed to wear down his opponent and get the location of his brother. Still, he noted, he needed some training so that he wouldn't have to completely rely on Excalibur's knowledge. He didn't even stop to think that he hadn't been planning on using Excalibur after he got Wyatt back.

Mordaunt would feint to the left and Chris would slash from the right.

To Chris it felt like forever, yet it felt like a second as he was caught up in the dance of the battle.

Chris eventually disarmed Mordaunt. "Ready to tell me where Wyatt is?" he asked as he knocked Mordaunt to the ground with the flat side of Excalibur.

"Wow, you really got the hang of that thing quick," Mordaunt noted.

"Stop changing the subject and tell me. Do you really think you can beat Excalibur?"

Mordaunt shrugged. "I can try." He rolled out from under Excalibur and conjured another sword, starting the battle again.

This time, though, Chris was less focused and more using his anger. How dare this guy come back from the future and threaten his brother and then his mom? Chris wished Wyatt would have killed the sorcerer when he had had the chance.

In a much shorter period of time, Mordaunt managed to knock Chris to the ground. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, Christopher. Don't let your anger get the best of you. They do say patience is a virtue."

Chris made no reply as he raised Excalibur to meet Mordaunt's sword. He used the momentum to jump to his feet and away from Mordaunt.

He took a deep breath to calm himself; Mordaunt had had a point about the anger. There was also something or other about it leading to the dark side that his cousin Henry would have quoted.

Mordaunt taunted, "You know you'll never be able to actually use the sword. I can tell you're holding back. Just let me have it."

"No, it's mine," Chris declared as he again leapt at Mordaunt. He hadn't meant to say it—it had just slipped out—but he realized it was true. It all finally clicked into place; why Wyatt was really corrupted by Excalibur, why Excalibur had called out for _him, _why he felt on top of the world and just _complete_ while using the sword. It was all suddenly so clear, as if a haze that had been over his eyes all of his life had simply vanished.

Christopher Perry Halliwell finally accepted that he was the true heir to Excalibur.

And a whole lot more power flowed through him as he accepted his birthright. As he fought on, he was no longer using a tool; he was using an extension of his very being, of his very soul.

Chris saw more flashes; he saw King Arthur's coronation. He saw himself leading the resistance. He saw himself sitting enthroned with his family watching him with the proudest looks on their faces.

Chris hacked away at Mordaunt's defenses as if he had done it his whole life, and he actually saw a look of fear on Mordaunt's face. Chris yet again disarmed Mordaunt, but this time he was prepared for any tricks his opponent might try to pull. "It's over Mordaunt," Chris said with finality. "You've lost. Now tell me where Wyatt is."

Mordaunt shakily raised a hand towards a corridor leading away from the cave.

Satisfied with the answer, Chris vanquished Mordaunt with Excalibur, knowing he was gone once and for all.

-c-x-c-x-

Chris followed the path that Mordaunt had indicated for only a couple hundred feet before he found what he was looking for: a smaller branch that quickly led into another open room.

Chris saw Wyatt lying unconscious in a glimmering cage, the Dark Knight pacing beside the cage while mumbling something to himself, and…Mordaunt? Chris, however, noticed some slight differences though between this Mordaunt and the one he had just killed: the one he saw didn't have the same cocky arrogance as the other one; instead he just looked tired and bored. And, oddly enough, this one had the slight stubble of a beard that wasn't at all evident on the other one.

Chris realized that since Mordaunt was from the future, he must have had a past self, and this was him. He was a little surprised to note how old Mordaunt obviously actually was from the look of his past self.

He shrugged off those thoughts anyway; he was there for Wyatt.

Chris ran into the room, Excalibur held high, and quickly vanquished the other Mordaunt, catching him completely by surprise. The knight had a little better reaction since he summoned his shield before Chris got to him. Chris hacked at the shield to avail, so he simply orbed behind the Dark Knight and vanquished him from behind.

After scanning the cave for anymore threats and finding none, Chris walked over to where Wyatt was. Wyatt looked up at him almost expectantly as he examined the cage. Chris assumed that he probably didn't want to touch the cage with his bare hands. He also figured that it disabled orbing, or Wyatt would have escaped already. Chris tested his telekinesis against the bars, but they didn't budge. Curiously, he touched Excalibur to one of the bars. Excalibur briefly flared up as the cage simply disappeared in a flash of light.

Chris orbed Excalibur back to the house before hesitantly reaching down to grab Wyatt who, to Chris's relief, simply let him pick him up without a shield. Chris smiled at that.

"Let's go home," he said as he orbed out.

**Thanks so much for everyone who had been reading this or even who just started. I couldn't have done it without you, as cheesy as that sounds. ****So please let me know what you thought about my ending.**

**This story was originally going to be longer, but I decided that I didn't want to do what would basically turn out to be a rewrite of season six and I wouldn't be able to write anyway with all of the stuff I have going on this month.**

**There will probably be a sequel sometime early next year or possibly even December, but no promises. It would definitely be set in the changed future, but I might also write a few one-shots about some of the rest of season six.**


	15. Epilogue

**Epilogue:**

Piper Halliwell sighed as she looked at the majestic sword in her hands. She thought of her infant son in his nursery and the great destiny he had ahead of him. Then she thought of the adult son that had not so long ago passed away here.

She shook her head as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. She felt terrible that she couldn't have been there when that scum of an elder had stabbed her youngest son. She was also pissed that an elder could ever try to kill not one, but both of her sons.

Another regret she had, though she knew it wasn't something she could help, was that she wasn't there for him in the future. It was wrong for a child to lose his mother at such a young age. Sure, her sisters and she had lost their mother at an even younger age, but at least they had had Grams. Chris had had no one. Piper was glad that he had at least managed to patch up his relationship with Leo.

She was also so proud of her son for all he had done for his brother. In his future, Wyatt and he had had a lot of bad history, but Chris had still risked—given—his life for him. Like a true Halliwell, he had put family first.

When she thought back on it, she was surprised that she hadn't noticed that Chris was a Halliwell before he had told her. He was so like his Aunt Prue with her attitude and the telekinesis, not to mention the fact that he had her eyes.

She wandered over to the large rock sitting in the corner of the attic.

After Chris had rescued Wyatt from the sorcerer Mordaunt, he had explained to them that he was the true heir to Excalibur and that he had just been in denial because Wyatt had had it in the future and been evil. Calling Wyatt evil had almost gotten Chris kicked out of P3 and their lives before Paige and Phoebe had reasoned with Piper that Chris _had_ just saved Wyatt. Piper winced at the memory. She had been so caught up in relief that Wyatt was safe that she had been unfair to Chris, who had just saved both her and Wyatt's lives.

After she had calmed down, though, they listened to Chris's explanation about how Wyatt had been the lord of the lake—he claimed it was because they were so close friends, but it made more sense once they found out he was Wyatt's brother—and about how it was the sword that had made Wyatt evil, since he wasn't the true heir even though he for some reason had thought he was. Chris had never elaborated on that part.

The elders, on the other hand, had been harder to convince. After lots of pushing from Leo and Chris, they had agreed to let Chris take some sort of trial that Chris had never talked about, but it had somehow convinced the elders of Chris's status.

_You have a big destiny ahead of you, Chris, _Piper thought._ I promise that it will be better this time around._

She raised the sword that she held in her hands and plunged it into the stone.

**Have I said how much I love your ****reviews**** and favorites and follows and even just views? Almost every chapter? Consistency, my friends. **

**So anyway, yes, it is over already. If it isn't clear, yes season six does come out pretty close to cannon(any major changes that I need to hit might be hit by oneshots), and this is Piper's thoughts afterwards. I'm sorry that Chris had to die, but it just doesn't work if he doesn't die (I wrote it this way because I am the writer and have all power mwahahaha. K?) I'll decide sometime before my ****sequel**** in the changed future whether and what I'm going to do about memories coming back from the unchanged future and other stuff like that. **

**Peace, Love, and Writing :)**


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